The invention relates to play equipment for infant and toddler age children (8-36 months), and generally in the commercial setting of facilities that accommodate many small children such as daycare centers, preschools, pay-for-play facilities, family entertainment centers, waiting rooms, pediatric hospitals, and the like. Up to this time, the 8-36 month age group has been generally ignored by commercial playground equipment manufacturers. Such manufacturers come from points of view and markets that have caused products to be developed for elementary age children in schoolyard and public park settings, a trend that produced products with proportions, sizes and play events that are not suitable for, and at times have proven quite dangerous to children under 36 months--children who are still acquiring basic skills to maneuver in and manipulate their environs. Further, the substance of commercial playground equipment is typically hard and unforgiving to falls by users, and the assembly of commercial playground equipment typically requires permanent footings and structures of such size as to require significant and costly installation and construction efforts.
In the absence of appropriate equipment, many childcare facilities adapt, with dubious success, equipment designed for larger, more advanced children, often presenting challenges and risks that are not appropriate or safe for toddlers. Products actually intended for this toddler age group are generally toys or very large toys, but nothing comparable in complexity or durability as to be appropriate to commercial play settings such as those previously mentioned.